To Save a Life and Solve a Mystery
by IHaveNoLife17
Summary: When Jay is bitten by a poisonous snake, he starts acting weird. As Cole and Zane leave to search for the flower they're told will cure Jay, Kai and Lloyd stay to figure out what Jay's doing. (Oh, gosh, my title sucks.)
1. Chapter 1

"Somebody claims to have seen the Serpentine in Bear Forest," Nya informed the only ninjas she knew where to find. She knew Zane was meditating with Sensei, but she wasn't sure where Lloyd or Cole was.

"Again?" Kai sighed, not even looking away from the video game he was playing with Jay on the couch, "It's probably just another false alarm, sis."

"And what if it's not?"

"Bear Forest? Um, no offense, Nya, but that sounds kind of made-up," Jay said.

"No, I checked. It's just west of Ninjago City."

"Great. Another pointless mission! The Serpentine haven't attacked since we went to the Dark Island, so it's been months. Don't you think they'd have done something by now if they wanted to?"

"Fine, I'll check myself."

Kai finally snapped his head over at Nya, shocked. "You can't go! What if there really are snakes there?! I'll go find Cole." Throwing the controller on the couch beside him, he jumped up and ran out the room, calling the earth ninja's name.

"Yes!" Jay fist-pumped a moment later. "I win!"

* * *

"Let's split up so we can cover more ground. Me, Lloyd, and Zane will go right, and Kai and Jay, you'll go left. We'll meet back at the Bounty in about half an hour," Cole directed, pointing in what seemed random directions. The others were getting sick of the Serpentine sightings (there had been many since the Overlord was defeated), but not Cole. Maybe he just missed the fighting itself, but every time he lead the team into an area where the Serpentine had supposedly been spotted, he was as believing as the others had been the 1st time.

"Aye, aye, captain," Jay said, mock-saluting Cole before they separated into groups. Kai and Jay were soon weaving their way around the trees, more focused on not tripping over roots than keeping an eye out for the snakes they were certain weren't here. For a little while they talked about random things, as Jay checked his watch every 5 seconds and Kai glanced back at Jay every once in a while.

"Look at that, the sun's setting already!"

Jay didn't respond this time, so Kai turned around. He wasn't there. The red ninja stopped.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Jay. You can come out now." Nothing happened. "This is a joke, right?... Jay?"

Soon he was wandering around, shouting his friend's name with no luck. He finally decided if Jay got lost, he'd probably try to get back to the ship, which was partly visible in the sky through the leaves and branches. Nya had it hovering mid-air for just this reason. Kai started back the way he came and waited for the rest of his teammates by the ship. After a few minutes he saw Cole and the others walking towards him.

"Is Jay around here somewhere?" Cole asked immediately.

"Why was that the first thing you say? Not 'did you see anything?' "

"Kai, where is he?"

"I wish I knew," Kai said, looking at his feet.

"You lost him?"

"Yeah."

"Did you look for him?"

"Of course I looked for him!"

They ended up walking around, calling his name for a while. Finally they gave up and called for Nya to land. After she landed, she came out on deck to ask them how the mission went. Looking at the boys, she realized one of them was missing. "Where's Jay?"

"Kai lost him," Lloyd replied.

"What Lloyd means to say is, Jay became separated from Kai. I am certain he'll turn up soon, " Zane told her.

"Maybe we should stay here overnight, and we can search again in the morning when it's brighter. Maybe he'll be here in the morning," Cole said hopefully.

He was not back the next morning, so Nya and the ninja set off back into the forest. Within a few minutes, a small blue Hypnobrai slowly walked right up to them, shaking with every step. Nya taken a defensive stance and the ninja had begun to reach for their weapons when the snake stuttered, "D-Don't h-hurt me! I know w-where the b-blue one is."

"You mean Jay?"

"I-I d-don't know h-his name, but his clothes were all blue. He hasn't woke up since March bit him or he'd be with you by now, only if he had woke up before now he'd just go alone and you wouldn't get the riddle." The small snake had switched from stuttering to talking faster.

"Everything you just said was a riddle," Kai commented.

"I'll take you to him, but if March comes back don't blame me." The Hypnobrai started to walk away. The 5 exchanged looks, silently asking each other, 'Should we follow him?' In the end, they hurried after the snake, weapons in hand in case it was a trap.

Abruptly, the snake stopped. Cole, who had been right behind him, nearly bumped into him. "I couldn't stop March. I hate it when he's like this!"

The 5 weren't listening. They were staring at the blue ninja, sprawled under one of the many trees like he'd been tossed there. He was ghostly pale and his hand was bleeding, which they didn't notice at first. His eyes were closed, and for a second Kai thought he was dead until he saw that his chest was rising and falling slightly.


	2. Chapter 2

[A/n: sometimes when I have a lot of dialogue like in this chapter, I forget to put who said what. If I ever do that please tell me so I can fix it.]

"March is coming! Run for your lives!"

"Who's March? You keep mentioning him."

"You'll see. Oh, phew, you've got your weapons handy. But don't kill him if you can help it; he's probably not himself if he attacks," The Hypnobrai, barely 4 feet, ran behind Cole.

"What are you doing?!" Cole said, turning around. He didn't see the snake, but then he heard its voice, "Hiding. Say you found him on your own, I didn't help!"

"Okay..."

"I didn't know snakes could be clowns." Kai had caught the first glance of the approaching Serpentine and was laughing. The snake had glowing red eyes, but that wasn't what was funny. Its skin was a checkerboard of purple, blue, black, and green.

"We're supposed to be scared of that?" Cole asked once he had seen it.

"He's an accident-"

"Snakes can be accidents?!" a hoarse voice said jokingly. [A/N: It's a stupid joke, I know. If you don't get it, please don't ask me.]

"Jay?" The ninja and Nya looked over at him. Jay had sat up, his eyes flickering around to take in all of them.

"But March bit him; I saw him," the Hypnobrai whispered in confusion. "Wait, if he can still talk, then... You have longer than I thought. You're stronger than the others were. They were paralyzed by now, I think." That last part was said to Jay.

"Thanks, I guess, but why don't you slur your s's like the other snakes?" Jay asked him.

"That's what stupid Rattles wants to know. He thinks it would be helpful for us to pass as human, and they were going to make me mate before we ran away."

"Mate?" Cole said, shocked.

"It means to pair him with a female in order to reproduce."

"I know that, Zane. But they were going to make you do it?!"

"Why are you so surprised? You humans do the same to other species, don't you? Anyway, March helped me escape; he's really a nice guy, but sometimes if he's gone too long without eating properly, he sorta goes crazy and bites the first thing he sees. Unfortunately, this time it happened to be your friend. Really, if the purebloods didn't treat the mutants like inferiors, we never would've had to run away in the first place, and I wouldn't be dealing with the 3rd person he's bitten."

"Mutants?"

"Yesss, mutantsss." Cole whirled around at the new voice and saw the rainbow snake had finally arrived. "Though that'sss not an accurate term. Hybridsss would be better. And I know you're here, Cody; I heard you talking." So that's his name, Cole thought. Cody sheepishly stepped from behind Cole, now visible. "I'm sssorry. It isssn't my fault I'm like thisss. I was sssuppossse to be Venomari and Fangpyre, but no! Sssome idiot 'accccidently' put everything in there and I end up like thisss-" the colorful snake gestured towards himself- "without a sssingle power! I get sssome dumb poisssonousss bite that ssso many normal little snakesss have."

"You're poisonous! And you bit me!" Jay shouted.

"Keep yelling like that, and you'll lossse your voiccce, boy. Wait? You haven't yet?"

"I can talk! What's the big deal?"

March almost answered, but Cody reached up and covered his mouth. I should bite him, March thought. Nobody said a word until Kai broke the silence.

"So, if you're a little bit of everything," he said the first part to March, "then what are you?"

"Hypnobrai egg, Anacondrai DNA," Cody replied like he'd been expecting this question.

"If you came from the egg of a Hypnobrai, wouldn't you have the DNA from it as well?" Zane said to Cody.

"Alright, Mr. Smartypants. The original egg and the DNA added to it was how they classified us. Usually we look like the tribe of the egg we came from, but the power could come from either. I'm pretty lucky, I've got-"

"Cody!" March yelled.

"-my power from the Anacondrai tribe! I'm so lucky because invisibility is great!" Cody finished hastily.

"You're lying."

"Just take your friend and leave," the blue snake said coldly.

"Wait! I have to give them the riddle!" March suddenly shouted.

"No you don't!" Cody hissed.

"Kid, you're the one who made me promissse to tell the family of anyone I bite, and you know I'm a sssnake of my word," March said to Cody. "Now, thisss isss gonna sssound pretty crazy, but hear me out," he started, now talking to the ninja.

"We're used to crazy, " Cole replied.

"'If the sssnake of many colorsss bitesss, you mussst travel to the land of iccce and find the flower, sssmall and white, but if you wish to guarantee hisss ssstay, you mussst find it in under 8 daysss. In the land of iccce, remember thessse 3 thingsss: beware of trapsss, ssstay away from ratsss, and never take a nap.'"

"Don't take naps?" Cole repeated.

"I told you it was crazy."

"Come on, let's go! Let 'em figure it out themselves," Cody growled, a second later walking off in the direction March had come from.

"Guarantee hisss ssstay meansss don't die!" he whispered before catching up with the smaller snake.

Cole was getting confused about these two snakes. At first he had thought Cody was just an innocent little kid (er, snakeling?)and March was some monster, but after Kai had accused him of fibbing, it started to seem nearly the opposite.

"You traitor," Cody muttered to March as they walked, "I can't believe you helped the ninja."

"You were the one blabbing our life ssstory, kid."

"But if I had lied, it would've risked me messing up and them not trusting me! I wasn't expecting them so soon!"

"And that worked ssso well," March said sarcastically.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you do it?"

"Duh! What do you think I am, some incompetent idiot?" Cody snapped defensively at his friend.

"Maybe. You almossst told them about your-"

"Shut up!" Cody interrupted, "Well, we can start now."

"No, we're waiting for the othersss to leave, remember?" March reminded him. "Wait, what about the paralysssisss?"

"Dang! Didn't think of that, did I?..."

"Idiot. I was jussst pulling your leg, kid. He can walk until the final day. By the way, did I have to bite him? You know how awful I feel after losssing control, and then you make me do it on purpossse?!"

"None of them would've cooperated. I saw him punch you before you bit his knuckle."

"Don't remind me, kid! Knuckles aren't sssatisfying in the leassst, you know."

"How would anyone other than you know? You're unique."

"Unique? Yeah, right, I look like sssome sssorta joke."

"True that."

"Sssome friend you are. You aren't sssupposssed to agree."

* * *

"I believe I've read that somewhere before in my scrolls," Sensei told his students. Most of them were sitting around the table explaining to Wu what had happened in the forest. Nya was bandaging Jay's hand, which was where March had bitten him. According to Jay, he had tried to punch March in the face, but his hand ended up too close to its mouth. Even if the others weren't sure whether he was telling the truth or not, there was no denying there were marks right on his knuckles.

"So you believe us?" Cole asked Wu.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Cole shrugged.

"Do you know where the land of ice is?" Kai said.

"Surely you remember it? You've been there before."

Wu sighed as his students gave him blank looks. "The Frozen Wastelands."

"You mean where we found the Shurikens of Ice?"

"Yes."

"And we used Zane as a sled?" Jay added as he and Nya came back in and took their seats at the table.

"That was not very fun," Zane said.

Jay opened his mouth to say something, but not a sound came out. He tried again. Then he remembered what the snakes kept saying about losing his voice. Stupid snake and his stupid bite, he thought, looking at his bandaged hand. Hey, if that was true, then... I'm so hooped! I'll end up some mute invalid who-

"-can't even go to the bathroom by himself."

"What did you just say?" The others were looking at him.

"Nothing."

Jay got up. "What're you doing?" He only shrugged, because, truthfully, he had no clue where he was going.

* * *

"Come on! Not this again!" Kai shouted. A few hours ago Jay had left, and no one had seen hide nor hair him since. "At least you can't blame me this time."

"Do you think the snakes got him?"

"Maybe," Lloyd replied, "Uncle, do you think we should trust them?"

"I've told you before, never trust a snake."

"You've also said the best way to defeat an enemy is to make them your friend, and the blue one seemed pretty friendly."

Sensei Wu was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Now you're twisting my words."

A boy climbed on deck, unnoticed, and listened to the old man and his nephew bicker over something so trivial, before finally tapping on one of the ninja's shoulder. "Where the heck have you been?!" Kai shouted. Everyone else's eyes were now on him, waiting for his explanation.

Jay tried to respond, but, again, no words came out. Not that I had anything to explain, he thought, I can't remember anyway...

Only a few minutes ago he had found himself in Bear Forest, unable to recall why or how he'd got there. He was beginning to hate this place. First he fights some rainbow snake and gets bitten, then this. Fortunately for Jay, the ninja had got so caught up in telling their own version of the story and correcting every detail anyone else added they had never bothered to move the ship, and he was easily able to climb aboard.

"Well?"

'I can't talk', he mouthed at Zane, thinking if any of them could lip-read the nindroid could.

"He says he cannot speak."

"That's just great," Kai said sarcastically.

"Didn't the snakes say something about him losing his voice?" Lloyd recalled.

"We said it twice actually."

"Cody? That's your name, isn't it?"

"One thing I like about freedom: nobody's called me Hypacondrai or any other stupid combination of Hypnobrai and Anacondrai all week. Heck, a ninja even remembered my real name!"

"What are you doing here?"

"March said he'd bite me if I didn't warn you about the rats, and he sounded pretty serious this time. And if he'd come, we weren't sure whether you'd attack him or not so I figured invisibility would come in handy. If you can't see me, you probably can't kill me."

"Stop it! I'm trying to decide if you're a villain or not!" Lloyd suddenly yelled.

"Stop what?" Cody asked innocently.

"Being so... unnaturally nice! At first you acted scared of us-"

"You don't know the rumors I've heard about what you ninja did to the warriors."

"Then you acted so innocent, and finally you were mean."

"I don't wanna be here anymore than you want me here, trust me on that. I'm just gonna say what I came to say and leave, OK? When the warriors disappeared a few months ago, Rattles took over, but that's not too important. What's important is that Rattles let the scientists do things Scales never allowed them to do. Namely, genetics. Maybe the guy was stupid, maybe it was an accident, but somehow some rats ended up with Fangpyre in them. And they bit everyone. But we were already snakes, so they had no effect. Since rats reproduce pretty fast, they soon had a million of the little things and Rattles ordered they get rid of them when they started to escape. A couple of snakes took a few big boxes of them as far as they could go to get away from us and let them go in a place where it was snowing. We figured if the riddle mentioned rats in the 'land of ice' it's probably them. The warning is not to let them bite you or you could turn into a snake. Or a giant rat. I'd laugh my head off at either."

"Are you done?" Cole asked.

"Yeah."

"Then leave." The ninja, Nya, and Sensei heard footsteps and Nya would swear she saw the snake's shadow.

"Wait," Zane called to the snake, "there is something I do not understand. If they've only been experimenting a few months, why do you look about 10 years old?" The sound of footsteps silenced.

"Serpentine age differently than humans, duh."

The footsteps continued, and the door opened and closed.

"Dang!"

"What is it, Lloyd?"

"I'm so confused about that guy!"

**I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Somehow this has 200+ views already and it's only been posted a few days!**


	4. Chapter 4

[A/n: I'm sorry if one thing March says at the beginning offends anybody. When I was rereading chapter 3 for typos that just kinda came to mind.]

"Why'd you make me do that? Pick a side already, I'm sick of you being so wishy-washy."

"Maybe I'd rather just ssssit on the fence for a while."

"Maybe I'd push you off that fence."

"That wasss only a metaphor, kid."

"I know. By the way, the green ninja couldn't decide which side of the fence we're on. See, I can use metaphors too!"

March sighed before replying, "He wouldn't be if you were a better actor. And it's the golden ninja."

"I swear, you could be on some ninja-trivia game show. 'And for the million dollar grand prize, what is the green- I mean, golden- ninja's full name?' " Cody said in a game-show host voice.

"Lloyd Garmadon," March rolled his eyes. Everyone knows that, he thought.

"Full name means middle name too. 'That's a million dollars lost to the snake who claims to know everything.' "

"Shut up, kid. I never sssaid I knew everything, only that I knew more than you. But while we're on the topic of ninja, you sssounded ssso gay earlier. 'A ninja remembered my name. Oh, swoon,' " March said in a high-pitched voice, "You got a crush on Kai or something?"

"Says the guy who looks like he got puked on by a rainbow...Hey! How did you-"

"I usssed a bug, kid," Match interrupted, a smug look on his face.

"You used a what now?"

"A bug? You know, a lissstening deviccce?"

"What?! Take it off of me!"

"I never sssaid it wasss on you." Cody relaxed for a moment before March added, grinning, "But it could be."

* * *

"What the heck do we do now?"

"We don't have many options. We could go looking for that flower-"

"So we're trusting snakes now?" Kai interrupted, "Next we should invite the Skulkin over for dinner!"

"Or we could do nothing and possibly put Jay's life on the line," Cole finished, glaring at Kai.

"Snakes can't be trusted, Cole, you know that!"

"So Sensei's scrolls lie too?"

"That's not what I said! Look, they didn't have to tell us the prophecy. What if they're planning to do something after we leave?"

"You might be right, Kai, but we've got- what, a week?- to find some flower or Jay dies."

"And who told us the bite was deadly?"

"How about Kai and me stay?" Lloyd said, trying to prevent a fight between them, "You and Zane can go ahead. We'll make sure the snakes don't try anything."

"I think it's a good idea."

"If Zane agrees, it must be a good plan."

"I see you've finally made up your mind," Kai said teasingly.

"Nope, I'm still pretty confused, but if the snakes attack then I'll know they're bad."

"Did you say you're staying-not because you wish to protect Ninjago- but because you wish to know if a few snakes are evil?"

"Gees, Uncle, when you put it like that it sounds selfish."

[A/N: I had writer's block, that's why this chapter sucked, and also why I started with the snakes. Not much happened, but that's because I didn't wanna send them to the Frozen Wastelands until the next chapter.]


	5. Chapter 5

It was cold, and they hadn't even hit land yet. Zane didn't seem to notice, though Cole was freezing here. It seemed to chill him all the way to the bone, even in a huge jacket that made him feel like an Eskimo.

Things weren't going any better for the others. Jay had disappeared. Again. Nya ended up yelling at Kai for a few things he said he'd do if he found the blue ninja. Really, it wasn't Jay's fault.

Their eyes were a bright purple, both the snake's and the ninja's. The only difference was, March only had a purple tint to his blood-red eyes while Jay's entire iris was purple.

March had his mind, but only some control over his actions. Cody wasn't about to take any chances with Jay, though, so he couldn't even think. I know he doesn't like me that much, but this? March thought, remembering what happened only a minute ago.

"We're gonna do what an entire army of warrior purebloods never could! Why aren't you excited?"

"Maybe I don't wanna hurt anymore people. And they all went missssing! What if the ninja killed all of them?" he said, glancing over at Jay.

"Remember our conversation yesterday? Well, I'm serious now: Get off the dang fence, and you better come down on my side! Don't make me do things I'll regret."

March's eyes widened as he realized what he was talking about. "You wouldn't!"

"Who's to say I haven't already?"

March's eyes went completely purple and all the emotion drained from his face. Only a moment later Cody realized he needed March. As much as he hated to admit it, March was smarter than him. He relaxed his control a bit, and anger immediately trickled into the snake's face.

March gritted his teeth and spat, "You liar! You big, fuc-"

"You shouldn't say words like that in front of children," Cody interrupted, laughing.

Forcing himself to calm down some, March asked, "Is this about the bug?"

Cody didn't reply.

"You do remember you said you'd never-"

"My fingers were crossed," Cody said calmly.

(Switch)

"It would be nice if we had a better description of this plant," Zane commented as the two ninja stepped off the small boat they had rented. "A petal number would be helpful."

Cole nodded. "How do we tell a white flower from the snow?"

"The stem would not be white. Look for something green."

Cole spotted something, but it wasn't green. It was gold (which was why it caught his eye), as well as too big to be what they were looking for anyway, and... moving?

"What the heck is that?" the earth ninja said, pointing at the thing in the distance.

Zane squinted at it. "That is a Dwarf Shrub."

"A what?"

"A Dwarf Shrub," the ice ninja repeated. "It would be wise to avoid it."

Cole had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer if he asked why.

"This place is huge. It could take forever to find it."

"Do not say that. We've only been here 4 minutes and 26 seconds; we still have the better part of 6 days."

"That's less than a week."

[A/n: I put switch because the line break wasn't working right. Also, ABCSonicKirbyWarrior, thank you for reviewing every chapter so far!]


	6. Chapter 6

[A/N: The first paragraphs are partly a response to a review, but also me seizing the chance to do something that might help me get over my writer's block. Takes place a little bit before the last chapter.]

Jay was asleep when his eyes opened, now glowing purple.

"How do Hypnobrai sssee through other'sss eyesss anyway?"

Cody and March were miles away from the Destiny's Bounty, yet Cody could see the inside of it.

"I think...I'm gonna get him to come to us," Cody said, ignoring the older snake's question.

"That's amazing," March replied sarcastically, "Any other tricks I should know about? Can you juggle?"

"When would I have learned to juggle?"

"If you pick up a few sssticksss I'll teach you."

Cody facepalmed. "Are you humming circus music?"

"Yeah. You got a problem with it?"

[A/n: And back to your regularly scheduled programming! The rest of this takes place after the last chapter. Also, I think I should warn you: March cusses.]

"I bet you didn't even think thisss through."

"Shut up! Of course I did!"

"Then what are you gonna do now, geniusss? How are you sssupposssed to accomplish anything by yourssself?"

"What are you talking about? I have one ninja and you!"

March started to laugh. "Turn around, Cody."

He turned around and saw 3 figures, 2 in red and one in gold. Luckily for them, they were just far enough off that if they saw the snakes they probably wouldn't recognize them.

"Why didn't you tell me they were coming?!"

"Maybe I would've if you hadn't-" March stopped short; Cody had bolted. "Where are you going?! Don't leave me; jussst leave Jay, you idiot!"

He felt something happen, he didn't know what, and he could move again; at the same time, Jay crumpled to the ground. March was thinking (actually said a few of them out loud) some not-so-nice things he'd like to say to Cody, the little...

He wanted to help Jay, but March knew if they caught him here he'd be blamed for this. Looking back at the 2 ninja and Nya, he decided he did have enough time for something. March grabbed a stick and wrote a few words in the dirt before hiding. He would've ran away himself, if he hadn't wanted to stick around and make sure they found the blue ninja.

(Switch)

"Purple eyes hypnotized? What the heck does that mean?" Kai said, reading the words scrawled in the dirt next to the lightning ninja.

"What are you looking at me for?" Lloyd said, "I didn't write it!"

"The rainbow clown snake wrote it."

"Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"Letting us think you're unconscious when you're fine. This is the second time, Jay! And rainbow clown snake?"

"You know, March? Never mind; it popped in my head so I said it. And March hates Cody, called him a bunch of swear words."

"Doesn't surprise me," Lloyd shrugged, "They argued first time we saw them, didn't they?"

"He wasn't cursing then though, was he?"

"I've good reasssonsss to do it! I hate that little ssson of a-"

March immediately regretted saying anything at all. If you're searching for someone who looks like I do it won't take long, he thought.

"Censored!" Jay shouted over a certain word March called the other snake.

"Would you lose your voiccce for good already?! You should be passst the sssometimesss-it'sss-there-sssometimessss-it'sss-not stage. Kinda makesss me wanna bite you again, jussst to sssee what happensss."

"Don't."

"I think it'sss sssomething on my end, not yoursss. Maybe my venom'sss getting weaker. I'll tessst that theory on Cody if I ever see the bassstard again."

"Don't say that word."

"Of courssse the girl doesssn't like cusssing!" March said, slightly annoyed.

"Shut up, Mr. Rainbow Clown Snake."

"I should get a cloak. And why the hell did you call me that?! I'm not even a full rainbow; I'm missssing orange...yellow...I mean, orange and yellow."

"It's kinda fun to say."

"What's the deal with you and Cody? I get you don't like him, so why do you hang out with him?"

"Mind your own business, you nosy ninja. Wait a second... Quick, are my eyes purple or red?!"

"Purple. Do your eyes normally change color?... You okay?"

March was furious, but they had no way of knowing why. "FUCK YOU, CODY!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut tight. "Close your eyes, Jay!"

"Wh-" Jay lost it again mid-word.

"Please be gone for good," March muttered, not bothering to open his own eyes to see if Jay had done the same, which he hadn't. He was missing Jay, who had realized he was talking about his voice, giving him one of those if-looks-could-kill glares. "Why do I need to tell you why; didn't you read my words in the dirt?!"

Nya looked at the words again and said, "Who hypnotized you?"

"Do I have to ssspell it out for you guysss? Ssseriousssly, I figured at leassst one of you would have the brainsss to put 2 and 2 together. Cody'sss half Hypnobrai. Need anymore hints or do you get it now?" They nodded. "And it'sss not jussst me, it's J-a-y as well."


	7. Chapter 7

"Why'd you spell his name?"

"What is thisss, 20 Questionsss? I thought it might make it sssound more dramatic," March replied, opening his eyes again. "What are you giving me that look for? I'm gonna try my bessst to get on your nervesss if you're gonna call me something as shitty as Rain- O.K, how about thisss: you never call me anything other than March and I won't curssse in front of you guysss anymore, deal?"

Jay nodded; his voice still wasn't back yet. He was starting to have some of the same worries he'd had the first time he lost his voice. Now he was careful not to say any of it out loud.

"I get why he would hypnotize Jay, but why you?"

"Easssy, because he'sss a jerk. And the fact that I bugged him probably didn't help. Hang on a sssecond! I bugged him!" March ran off. "Ssstay here," he called back.

"Where are you going?" The snake either didn't hear him or ignored him.

Five minutes passed, then 10, then 20, and the ninja and Nya began to wonder if he was coming back. When 20 minutes had become a half hour, Kai turned around to leave.

"You sure are patient, huh?" March returned with something black in his hand.

"At least I don't call 12-year-olds bad words."

"What doesss that have to do with anything? And Cody'sss at leassst 14 mentally."

"If a snake not even half my height is 14-"

"Just shut up, Kai!"

A voice, along with crackling and static, came out of the device March was holding. He turned the volume up so the others could make it out.

"-told you he wasssn't meant to be a villain, didn't I? Ssso don't come crying to me about thisss, it'sss your problem!" a female and definitely serpentine voice said.

"He went back..." March whispered.

"I'm not crying! I'm fine, it's cool, this can still work. I just need a new plan."

"Can't be too hard, could it? Didn't you sssay you got the blue ninja and March?"

"Yes, but they're both useless at the moment. March can feel when I try to control him, and he's with the ninja so he'll probably warn Jay at the very least."

"Your story, I guess I believe it. Except... how the heck did you convince March to bite anyone?!"

"I didn't have to. It's complicated, Amelia-"

"Amelia?" March gasped, preventing them from hearing some of what Cody was saying. "Of all the people he could've talked to, the idiot goes to her?"

"He really did it? On me? I thought it was on the ninja's ship or something!"

"Uh-oh," March muttered.

"What-"

"It'll take way too long if I try to explain everything. Just trust me, O.K? And please get that stupid thing off me!"

"Let'sss pretend, jussst for a minute, that I go along with any of thisss. There'sss a pretty big reward on your head; how would helping you benefit me more than that would?"

"Dang it, Amy! March was way easier to convince."

"Of courssse he wasss. Knowing you, you probably forced him!"

"Shut up! I have other friends; I don't need you! Just take the bug off for me, please. I hate the idea of him spying on me."

"Then you'll hate me telling you it'sss blinking. I think it'sss on."

"Smash it!"

"Wait," Amelia's voice sounded a little closer this time, "Hey, March, if you can hear me, I think I'm gonna ssspit in his eyesss."

"You better n-!" Cody's voice dissolved into a frequency that made everyone but March cover their ears until March switched the device off.

"Who's Amelia?"

"Venomari. Not important unless she actually joins him, which is pretty unlikely. Must be pretty desperate if he's going to the girl who hates his guts as much as I do."


	8. Chapter 8

Wu felt uneasy about there being a snake onboard. It looked quite odd; each of his scales was either a Venomari's dark green, a Hypnobrai's bright blue, a Constrictai's greyish black, or an Anacondrai's light purple, making it appear a bit comical. His razor-sharp fangs and blood-red eyes offset this a little, but Sensei Wu still chuckled when he first saw him. His remaining students claimed he had a bit of each tribe in him. This wasn't too hard for him to believe, given March's appearance.

It was friendly so far. Though the old man had observed multiple opportunities in which it could've harmed them, it hadn't done a thing since biting Jay, which he had apologized for. Speaking of Jay, the master of lightning hadn't said a word since returning from the forest. According to March, he won't be able to unless Zane and Cole returned with the flower, and Cole had admitted, yawning, via a communicator that they'd searched half the night and still weren't any closer to finding it than they'd been yesterday.

The golden ninja was trying to be a leader in Cole's absence, but all he had done so far was broken up an argument between Kai and Nya over whether they should take Jay to a doctor. Jay had listened to them, obviously wanting to say something. March watched too, staring like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

For nearly half an hour or so, March didn't do anything except follow Jay around, which creeped him out. When Lloyd questioned him on why, he said he wanted to see if his venom really was weakening. The snake may not be evil, but he sure was annoying. And then there was the fact that March just left as soon as the sun started to set and didn't come back until 2 PM the next day. He looked a little angry when he returned.

Kai tried to get him to say where he'd been or why he was mad, but March of course never answered.

_"What would you even do with Ninjago onccce you took over?"_

_"I never thought that far, I guess. I just wanna prove-"_

_"That hybridsss aren't worthlesss, I know. But there's something wrong with you if you can't tell when you've gone too far! If you keep this up they'll start thinking hybridsss are insane on top of everything elssse!"_

No way March was admitting he ran into Cody. They might accuse him of meeting the half-Hypnobrai on purpose. Kai, at least, doesn't trust me, March thought, and why should he anyway?

Besides, the only remotely relevant thing he'd actually be able to tell the ninja about the encounter was that Cody didn't try to hurt him, not physically. He'd thrown around the usual threats, but frankly, March no longer cared. The only time Cody actually carried through on a threat, he ended up hypnotized. In all honesty March knew that was the worst he could do, though Cody would argue. Cody was never a skilled fighter, and you could tell when he was coming most of the time, even when he was invisible. The only reason the ninja hadn't known he was there the other day was because Jay had just turned up after his initial disappearance and they were distracted.

But today? Cody hadn't even tried to do anything, and March was still puzzled over this. Suddenly remembering what Amelia said, he tried to recall if Cody's eyes had been their usual purple or if they'd been green. Maybe he was drugged with Venomari spit and thought March was an actual rainbow. He really wasn't sure; he'd been more focused on making sure Cody didn't, you know, attack him than something as small, yet possibly as important, as the little blue snake's iris.

[A/n: If you noticed something was different, it was probably because I tried to use as little dialogue as possible in this chapter, mainly because I feel like I overuse it most of the time anyway. If anything sounds off, any typos, anything confusing, etc. please tell me so I can fix it. Edit: when I showed my friend who usually reads my fanfics (before posting) she said it was like someone else wrote it. What do you think?]


	9. Chapter 9

[a/n: I'm a little over 1,100 views on this story! *happy dance*]

"Are you gonna answer?"

"Huh?"

"You've been staring into space ever since I asked where you went."

March shook his head and sighed. "Mind your own businesss, Kai."

"You said something about Cody. You're plotting with him, aren't you?!"

"Sure, why not? And while we're at it, I'm actually a human in disssguissse."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Once again, where have you been all day?"

"Ssso I can't go anywhere without sssomeone sssupervisssing me like I'm a child?"

"Not until we can trust you."

"When will that happen if it hasssn't already? I told you Jay was hypnotized, I insssisssted on telling you the ssstupid riddle, I made Cody warn you about the ratsss, I let you lisssten to the bug-"

"You also bit Jay and it might kill him!"

"And I did all of that trying to make up for it! Why elssse would I even be here?! I only went to the tree houssse to sssee if I could find my knife. There, you happy now?"

"You have a tree house?"

"Cody called it that, but-"

"So you have-"

"Do not interrupt me being all flipping sssusspiciousss again! For a few daysss before all of thisss messs ssstarted we lived in the remainsss of some treehouse, isss that ssso horrible?"

"I wonder if it was my treehouse fortress." Lloyd's voice nearly made March jump; he hadn't seen or heard him coming.

Kai shook his head, "Different forest. And March, how has you staying here helped at all?"

March turned around, fists clenched so tightly his fingernails dug into his palm (which hurt a bit), and walked towards the door. He knew he honestly hadn't helped any, but he knew a way he could.

"Where are you going?" Lloyd asked, shooting a look at Kai.

March shrugged, but a plan was already forming in his head. He could turn Cody (and himself) in. The snake jumped off the deck. Grabbing his knife from a bush, he headed back towards the forest. He had hidden it there just a few minutes prior because it definitely wouldn't have looked good returning to the ship with a weapon.

The idiot couldn't have strayed very far in ten minutes, March thought. Sure enough, Cody was pretty close to where March had last seen him. As quietly as he could, he walked up behind the kid and grabbed Cody's arms, forcing them behind his back.

"What in the absolute helk are you doing?!" Good question. Too bad the answer's _I have no clue._

"Did you jussst say helk?" he asked instead.

"Lemme go, March!"

"And I'd do that why? Walk, kid," he said, shoving him forward.

* * *

"How are you not cold?" Cole finally asked.

"I can stand temperatures of below -30 degrees."

"Celsius or Fahrenheit? Wait. Green and white!"

"Is it what we have been looking for?"

Cole bent down and triumphantly held up a flower with 5 petals and a purple middle. "Yeah. How much time do we have left?"

[a/n: I'm assuming everyone hated chapter 8's style as much as I did. I'm thinking about redoing it. I'm trying to find a good balance because like 95% of my chapters are dialogue, and I feel like I don't describe things enough. I ended up with two new stories posted, Ninjerella (Ninjago-Cinderella one-shot) and Divided (3 way crossover where Lloyd goes to Hogwarts and Cole, Kai, and Nya end up at Camp Half-Blood). That's my excuse for not updating as fast.]


	10. Chapter 10

[A/n: Unnecessary explanation...: I didn't like chapter 8 because it felt like I was just summarizing what I had planned for it. If I had done it the way I normally do, the chapter would probably have been way longer.]

To March, it felt like every snake's eyes were on him. Then again, his own eyes hadn't had time to readjust to how dark it was underground, so it might all be in his head. Either way, you'd think he'd be used to stares by now. Only difference was that this time it was more because of his 'prisoner' than his appearance, and that was a nice change.

If the reward for Cody was as big as Amelia had made it sound when he overheard her on the bug (and it probably was, considering he was the 1st hybrid with 2 powers and one of the few without a hiss), then why isn't anyone trying to take him? March tried not to worry about it and instead focused on making sure Cody didn't escape.

"What the heck isss wrong with you?! Are you insssane?" a harsh voice whispered in his ear, making him jump slightly.

Amelia. Of course she's here, March thought, she's normal. And hasn't poisoned anyone with _her_ fangs. Then again, he didn't remember doing it the first couple of times; Cody had told him about it afterwards, and March didn't trust him at all anymore. Who's to say his 'losing control' wasn't just Cody's hypnosis? Speaking of hypnosis, he could feel Cody trying to use it, and fighting it without closing his eyes was giving March a headache.

"Did you go mute or what? I asssked you a quessstion!"

"Should've asked him if he bit himself," Cody laughed.

"I can imagine him-" she jerked her thumb towards Cody, "doing sssomething like thisss out of sheer ssstupidity-"

"Hey!"

"But you? I figured you were sssmart enough to realize they'd never give the reward to you. They obviousssly want you too, jussst not quite ssso much."

"I'm not here for the reward, Amy!"

"Then what the helk are you gonna do with me?"

"Again with the helk? What does that even mean?"

"It's a combination of-"

"Nobody cares, Cody! And March, tell me what and why."

"What and why...? Oh, yeah."

-[slight time skip cause I'm lazy]-

"Sssome friend I'd be to let you do any of that. Sssinccce when do you play hero?"

"Sssinccce Cody became a lunatic."

"Still right here!"

Amelia glanced down slightly at Cody. "Your grip is loosening. I wonder if I still have those handcuffs."

"Where the heck'd you get handcuffsss?"

"Ssstole 'em from a cop," she grinned slyly, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes.

"You can be real scary sometimes."

"Aw, thanksss, Cody. But you only sssaid that because you're the one I'm ssscaring."

* * *

He couldn't feel his hand. Or move it, for that matter. He shook it with the other hand, pinched it, and was flicking himself when Lloyd walked in. He immediately stopped, but the golden ninja still gave him a strange look.

"I can see how you'd be upset over your voice, but that's no reason to hurt yourself... or whatever you're doing..."

"If Jay actually wanted to hurt himself he'd be using a real weapon," Kai said from behind him, "So why were you doing that?"

The blue ninja really didn't feel like playing charades, so he grabbed a notebook (a simple but, in his opinion, brilliant idea of Nya's) and wrote, 'I can't feel my hand,' on the first blank page.

"My hand falls asleep sometimes, it's not a big deal."

"Anyway, do you have any idea where March is? He kinda left because Kai-"

"Hey, let's not play the blame game!"

"Kai, you practically said he's been useless."

"He has."

"But you don't just flat-out tell someone that! What if he's sensitive?"

"Yeah, sure, Lloyd. The snake with red eyes and fangs is sensitive."

"Do you remember how he reacted to Jay calling him Rainbow Clown Snake?"

"He got mad, so what? I'd be mad too if someone called me a clown, and that doesn't mean I'm sensitive."

"No, it means he, and you, have feelings."

Kai was silent for a moment. "Anger is a 'feeling', but it's not exactly a good one."

"You're one to talk."

"What I'm getting at is, does he have... good emotions, like, I don't know, sympathy or..."

"It seemed like he felt guilty when he yelled at you."

"Which time?"

"How much have you two fought?!"

Lloyd facepalmed when Kai started to count on his fingers.

"Never mind."


	11. Chapter 11

I don't think I've ever mentioned this, but this story is a rewrite of my very first fanfic (written in elementary school, before I found this site). I had lost the notebook it was in, and I just found it today. The original pretty much sucked, but there were a few scenes that I found funny. Anyway, I hope this entertains somebody somewhere while I try to figure out the details of the real next chapter, which I'm having major writer's block for.

1) [The next day after Kai loses Jay]

"We should go back to Bear Hill! [I changed it from 'Hill' to 'Forest' when redoing it.] Maybe the Serpentine found him and we need to rescue him!"

"Kai, we did not see any snakes while we were there."

"They could've been hiding. Come on, let's go!"

"Will it shut you up?"

"Probably."

"O.K., fine."

[Skipping some so I don't have to type so much]

"Look! Snake! I told you so!"

"What are you doing here, and hurry up before I call my friendsss!" the snake said, coming over to them.

"We're looking for Jay," Nya told the Hypnobrai.

"Isss that the blue one?"

"Yes! Have you seen him?"

"Maybe."

"Listen up, snake, my sister's unhappy, and when she's unhappy, I'm unhappy. And the only way to make us happy again is to return Jay to us, safe and sound, got it?"

"It's a little too late for that," the snake muttered under his breath. Kai started to grab its neck.

"Don't kill him, Kai!" Cole shouted.

2) "Land of ice?" Kai repeated, "Where would that be, the North Pole?"

"Sure, we're gonna go to the North Pole and look for a flower. While we're there we can ask Santa for advice." [Unfortunately the last ones are only slightly funny (in my opinion).]

3) "The serpentine could've been lying. Jay could've just lost his voice. I mean, really, he's gonna die? Of what, not-talking-itis? Or is it silence syndrome?"

4) [When Jay disappears the first time, Kai makes Cole go with him to Bear Hill]

"We're here, now what, Kai? It was your idea to come back here!" [I really wanna edit that, but I'm keeping it so that this is the same word for word.]

"Well, there's a snake. Ask him about it."

"So we're just gonna walk up to it and ask, 'Have you seen Jay?' I bet they don't even know our real names!"

5) Cole and Kai argued over whether Jay was hypnotized for, like, half the story. Later Kai gets an epic 'I told you so' moment that I'm too lazy to type right now.


End file.
